Teddy Turner defends comments about black people

By Gina Smith

Congressional candidate Teddy Turner said a short video clip sent to reporters today — in which he says it’s hard for him to relate to his black students — gives an inaccurate representation of a recent speech he gave.

The video, shot during a Republican Club meeting in Charleston a few weeks ago, shows Turner, an economics teacher at a private school in Charleston, speaking to a group of white voters.

“The reason it became so important to me meeting Tim (Scott) was Tim is not like a lot of us,” Turner tells the group, referring to now Sen. Tim Scott, who held the 1st Congressional District seat Turner is seeking until December. “Tim is black. I have black students that I work with all the time, and I try to talk to them and relate to them, and it’s very hard for me to do.”